It’s July 14th, La Fête Nationale, Bastille Day, the holiday commemorating this date in 1789 when crowds stormed the Bastille Saint-Antoine prison, an event leading to the founding of the French Republic. Today La République faces a greater, more insidious threat than the monarchy of Louis XVI.
Last summer French hypermarchés began hyping a new beverage to innocent jeunes: A wine that tastes like Coca-Cola. The icebox wine cooler called Rouge Sucette (Red Lollipop), produced by Haussmann Famille/Châteaux en Bordeaux, is 75 per cent wine with sugar, water, and cola flavoring added. Quelle horreur!
Why? French youngsters are drinking less wine. They’re probably drinking Mexican Coke in bottles and PBR in cans, like American hipsters. French winemakers are in a panic, Rouge Sucette is an act of desperation, but clearly la République elle est perdue.
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Shortlink: http://wp.me/p6sb6-iQR
Image (“Aux armes, citoyens! Cola à saveur de vin! after Jean-Pierre Houël”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Tags: Bastille Day, cola-flavored wine, Franch, French Revolution, La Fête Nationale, Le quatorze Juillet, Rouge Sucette, wine, wine collers
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